NBA DFS: Finals Game 3 Showdown Picks

NBA DFS: Game 3 Showdown Picks

Hello there, NBA fans, and welcome to my Finals showdown article. I covered the NBA for five months this season and honestly, I miss writing about it. I’ve been on the MLB beat now for two months straight and I wanted to take an opportunity to put some NBA DFS content out there today for all of you who all still grinding the one game showdowns on FanDuel or DraftKings.

I had some success with my Game two lineups and I hope you did, too. Danny Green busted, Ibaka played well in limited minutes, and Klay was on his way to a huge night before getting hurt in the second half. There are some great contests on both sites for Wednesday’s night game and my goal today is to help you with your roster construction for both cash games and GPPs. Like I said last weekend if you’re playing any amount of volume on these slates, I’d definitely play some cash games and make a bunch of GPP lineups with different combinations of players using a core group of plays.

We have some really important injury news to monitor on the GSW side of things as well as some changes in the rotations for both teams from game one to game two to consider. I’m excited for game three and I think we are looking at another great finish as these teams as currently constructed are tough matchups for each other.

Let’s take a quick review of game two and see what info we can use when building our game three lineups.

NBA DFS: Game 2 Breakdown

The Warriors came back from a 5 point halftime deficit thanks to a 17-0 run in the third quarter and held on late to win game two in Toronto 109-104. Winning one in Toronto was huge as even the defending champs would have been sweating if they had gone done 2-0 heading back to California.

The Dubs did it behind solid performances from Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, DeMarcus Cousins, and a dagger three from Andre Iguodala on the last Warrior’s possession. Steph Curry struggled shooting the ball, going 6-17 from the field and only 3-10 from deep.

Cousins was announced as the starter last minute by coach Steve Kerr and I made sure to get him in the majority of my lineups. Having Boogie at center didn’t slow down Draymond Green at all, as he continued to be the most consistent offensive and defensive player for the Dubs, pouring in 17 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Iggy fought through an injury to play 29 minutes and contributed 8 points, 6 boards, and 8 assists including that huge shot late in the game.  Quinn Cook finished with the most minutes of all GSW bench players with 20 minutes and hit 3 big three-pointers in the second half. Kevon Looney left the game with an injury and is already ruled out for the season. Andrew Bogut came in and played 7 solid minutes in his stead.

The Raptors were led by Kawhi Leonard who poured in a game-high 34 points with 14 rebounds with 16 of those points coming at the foul line. The Raptors second high scorer was Fred VanVleet who scored 17 off the bench in a whopping 38 minutes. Kyle Lowry continued to disappoint, scoring only 13 points in 27 minutes before fouling out.

Pascal Siakam led the team in minutes at nearly 41 but came back to earth (like we predicted he might) with a 12-8-5.  Marc Gasol continues to win the minutes battle between him and Ibaka (even though Ibaka outplayed him in my opinion) as Gasol got 31 minutes to Ibaka’s 16.

Check out the whole boxscore here if you want to take a closer look!

NBA DFS: Cash Game Plays

Kawhi Leonard (16k FD, 11.8k DK)

I just really can’t fathom making a lineup without Kawhi in it. He’s expensive to roster as your captain on DK, but putting him at MVP on FanDuel will be the chalk build and I recommend it in cash games. He’s got the ball in his hands every possession, and he single-handedly brought Toronto back from down 12 points in the fourth quarter. He has an awesome floor for cash games with his ability to score, rebound, and rack up defensive stats. It’s easy, plug him into your lineups first and move on, don’t overthink this one.

Draymond Green (13k FD, 10.6k DK)

Draymond had an awesome game two and is such a big part of what the Warriors do. They need him on the floor 40 minutes or more to help run the offense and defend the Kawhi-Siakam combo. He is going to push for a triple-double almost every time out there and as long as Kevin Durant continues to be out, Dray is going to be an autoplay in his role as point-forward. He even showed some nifty offensive moves off the dribble when Toronto forced him to take shots by overplaying the wings.

DeMarcus Cousins (9k FD, 7.2 DK)

The pricing for this slate came out BEFORE the game finished on Sunday and therefore Boogie is way too cheap considering he was able to play 27 minutes in game two. He is always a risk to get into foul trouble, as he did early on Sunday, but he is such a dynamic fantasy player that he is going to make value at these prices even in limited minutes. The injury to Kevon Looney means the Warriors may lean on him even more in Game 3.

Fred Van Vleet (8.5k FD, 6.2k DK)

VanVleet is going to be a chalky value play based on how well he’s played now in both of the first two games of this series. His hustle on defense and ability to make perimeter shots is much-needed by this Raptors team and frankly, he’s out playing Kyle Lowry and Danny Green. I think he’s cemented a 30+ minute role for the rest of the series and it should be easy for him to cruise to value at these prices.

NBA DFS: GPP Plays

Klay Thompson (12k FD, 8.4k DK)

Klay is questionable with a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the fourth quarter of game two, however, I really think he’s going to play in game three. He was the best player on offense for the Dubs in game two and his injury status is going to keep his ownership low for game three. His price actually went down on FanDuel despite his production and I want to be overweight on him and underweight on Steph. He stacks nicely with Draymond or Boogie, or both.

Serge Ibaka (7k FD, 4k DK)

This price is downright disrespectful for a player of Ibaka’s talent. I’m not sure what Nick Nurse was thinking in game two when he pulled Ibaka down the stretch for Gasol. He was great on the offensive glass and his long arms are active in the passing lanes, racking up blocks and steals. I’ll keep going back to him in GPPs because he will be overlooked based on his minutes in the first two games, but a big game is coming and I want to be on it, not chasing it.

Andrew Bogut (6k FD, 2.2k DK)

Bogut entered the game in the second half after the Warriors lost Looney for the game. With no Looney, I would expect Bogut to get some backup center minutes behind Boogie in game three, especially with how well he played in his limited time on the floor. We know that Cousins is prone to foul trouble, and if Boogie is forced to sit out extended minutes with early foul trouble or even an injury then we could see Bogut for long stretches. He’s a large field GPP play only.

NBA DFS: Final Thoughts

If you’re playing showdowns on either site, it makes sense to make multiple lineups. Find the core plays that you feel really good about and then mix and match the secondary players around them. On FanDuel, you can play the same 5 guys in different lineups and just rotate players in and out of the MVP, STAR, and PRO slots to be different.

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Kawhi and Draymond are my top plays in all formats and you’ll notice I made no mention of Steph Curry at any point in my picks. I just think he’ll be massively owned and he’s underperformed in both games in this series so far. He’s a risky fade, but I do think you can underweight on him and play more Boogie, Klay, and Draymond…and even Iggy for GSW exposure.

Whatever you do, don’t play the exact same lineup that won contests in Game 2. Both teams are going to make adjustments and as I said, the situation has changed quite a bit for Golden State in some ways. This should be an awesome game to watch, especially if you are rooting hard for your players to do well and tracking those DFS lineups!

Mix and match those chalky picks with the contrarian GPP picks to create dozens of unique lineups, and don’t be afraid to leave some salary on the table to be different!

Thanks for taking the time to read my Finals Game 3 breakdown for NBA DFS showdown! Good luck in your contests! If you’re not already following me on Twitter, hit me up @ThunderDanDFS and make sure you are checking in here at FantasyCPR for the best in DFS content for all sports.